Generous Maria - The Making Of `Command Of The New Rock` by Peter Hogfeldt

It has taken some time for me to get this interview/feature translated from Swedish to English (due to health problems), but now I'm finally done. If you're interested in the history of the band I would suggest a visit to the Generous Maria website (since I don't have the energy to do as big a "feature" as the previous ones with Mustasch and The Awesome Machine this time around). There's a few other interviews with the band on various websites at the moment, but I think this is the only one with all the bandmembers...

You'll at least get a bunch of new photos from the release party at "Cronan" (Gothenburg). I'm amazed the photos turned out as good as they did, since the stage was very poorly lit (and I was the opposite). There's also a few old ones from a gig at "Pusterviksbaren" (also Gothenburg) last summer with their previous guitarist George Wennberg (the man who penned the incredible instrumental "Ashram Of The Absolute" on the new album). The band consists of: Göran Florström - Vocals Jesper Klarqvist - Bass Mats Ohlsson - Drums Ulrik Nilsson - Guitar Dan Johansson - Guitar. So here goes nothing...

Peter: I really like your new album "Command Of The New Rock", which is quite evident if you've read my review of it. Are you guys pleased with the finished product yourself... if you could change anything, what would that be?

Göran: I love it, it's our baby! We were "pregnant" for quite a long time and then we finally gave birth to this lil´ monster... about time if you ask me. There's always things that could've been done differently, but if we would've changed anything it would probably have ended up sounding wrong or out of place. As it is now it sounds just like "Command Of The New Rock" should sound!

Peter: Any difference in how the songs took shape on this album compared to earlier recordings? Anything you can tell about the experience of recording this album?

Jesper: No big difference when it comes to writing of the songs. They took shape during rehearsals, everyone had something to add. One thing that was different was that George took part in writing a few of the tunes. Other than that it was the same old same old... nights and weekends... lots of junkfood and not a lot of sleep...

Göran: We had more channels available, which meant we could experiment more, create a wider and deeper soundscape. The recording was done during the winter and the spring of 2001. There was a nice and relaxed vibe all the way towards the end of the recordingsession when some bad vibes surfaced, mainly from "forces" outside the band. And there was a mix done of the album that we all hated, but then it was all mixed again in June and that result we all loved. So after the bad vibes it all turned into a "summer of love". The recording was both fun and hard work (as all recordings are). After a lot of hard work from both the band, our producer Dan and the technicians Rune and Sven we ended up with something really good...

Peter: My favorite songs from the new album are "All Units Are Out" and "Ashram Of The Absolute". What's your own favorite songs, and why?

Dan: I like "A Bed At The Edge Of The Universe" the best, because I think it has the perfect mixture of riffs, melody, arrangement and production. At the same time I like "Soulflight" a lot, because the sound is a little different, which is something I think is needed if you don't wanna end up with a bland and "flat" sounding album.

Göran: "A Bed At The Edge Of The Universe" is one of my favorite songs, this song shows of everything that Generous Maria is all about. "Big Shiny Limo" is another one, I love the drive of this tune and there's also something primitive about it. "Bridge Out Of Time" is a tune that has grown on me a lot, I like how all bits and pieces and the different moods of the song fits together in a natural way... I can keep it up and just leave out a few. Man, this is sick!

Jesper: I'm pretty pleased with how all the songs turned out, but the ones I think stick out a bit are "All Units Are Out" and a real nice surprise was "Bridge Out Of Time" which turned out so much better than we thought it would. That song we had more like a "bonus track", if we had run out of time it would've been dropped.

Ulrik: It's gotta be "Ashram Of The Absolute" for me, that song is so damn cool to play. A couple of other songs that ranks high for me are "A Bed At The Edge Of The Universe", "All Good Things" and of course "All Units Are Out".

Mats: I Like "Dumdum Bullet", it has nice driving beat that keeps the straight ahead rock vibe in a cool way.

Peter: It took some time from when you had recorded the album `til you got signed by Lunasound, but I guess you guys are pretty pleased with what label you ended up with at last?

Göran: It didn't take that much if you consider that the album was mixed and ready to go in July and we were signed the contract at the end of August. And yes, so far so good, Stuart is a cool dude and we're lablemates with lots of great bands.

Jesper: I have only good things to say about Lunasound and Stuart's way of handling stuff. But you could always wish for more money... No, it didn't take that long a time from recording to mixing to signing, just a couple of months. But everything takes time in this business...

Peter: Which one of all your gigs are you most pleased with?

Ulrik: The one we did with AstroQueen at Sticky Fingers (Gothenburg). A great groove in all the songs and I felt kinda unbeatable. But this could've just as well ended up being the worst one, when we entered the stage I didn't get a single sound outta my stuff (this have happened at almost all of our gigs at Sticky Fingers). It turned out it was just a dead pedal, after I took it out of the loop everything worked great. After a start like that you think it can't get any worse and you let go of all of your inhibitions...

Dan: The one at Belsepub (Gothenburg) last fall, but the band gets tighter and better all the time so we haven't seen the best one yet.

Jesper: Exactly, we haven't done our best gig yet, it'll be the next one or the next one or the one...

Peter: What are your influences, from today's scene and classic hardrock/metal (or other genres)?

Göran: There's loads of great bands, both from our time and "classics" - but the ones that have influenced me the most is Iggy & The Stooges, there's no way getting around that. When it comes to lyrics I really admire Bon Scott, even though it's kinda depressing to have these unreachable high standards... shit, I won't ever get close to those guys so I might as well give up...

Dan: I'm influenced by everything... all the time. It doesn't matter if it's the sound of a Boyzone song, the arrangement of an old Sabbath tune or some techno crap that I don't know anything about... you just steal bits and pieces whenever, where ever...

Jesper: Everything! You get influenced by everything you hear, good or bad. At the moment it's Destiny's Child, Mustasch, Elvis, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Black Sabbath, Roachpowder, Smashing Pumpkins, Johnny Cash and on it goes...

Ulrik: Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix... especially Band Of Gypsys, which I think is amazing. It was the song "Machine Gun" that got me hooked on cool effect pedals. Otherwise I get influenced by lots of different stuff... anything from Radiohead to Lynyrd Skynyrd...

Peter: Which is the last album(s) you've bought (and maybe movie seen and/or book read)?

Ulrik: Halfman and Misdemeanor, two Swedish bands with a great groove.

Göran: Mammoth Volume's "Single Book Of Songs", I'm deep into this band at the moment, I also have their two previous releases. At the moment I'm reading Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying Of Lot 49", I read his "Gravity's Rainbow" some time ago and that was a weird one. I watched Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks" last week, I'm a big time Woody Allen fan. Even though this wasn't the best movie he has ever done, it's still Woody Allen.

Dan: "Red Dirt Girl" by Emmylou Harris, a great example of how you can mix styles no matter what genre. Take a listen to Daniel Lanois' production, it's awesome!

Mats: Last album was Turbonegro's "Ass Cobra", last movie was Apocalypse Now Redux and last read book was Nicholas Hornby's "High Fidelity".

Peter: Name five albums you couldn't live without?

Göran: The Stooges - The Stooges The Stooges - Fun House Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power Iggy Pop - The Idiot Iggy Pop - Soldier (Do I have a one track mind tonight, or what?)

Dan: Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street Radiohead - OK Computer Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power Beach Boys - Pet Sounds Black Sabbath - Masters Of Reality

Ulrik: Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys (the best new year's eve concert ever) Black Sabbath - Paranoid (this album always puts a smile on my face) Jethro Tull - Aqualung (the hardest riffs combined with the sweetest melodies) Duane Allman - An Antholgy (a compilation with songs Duane played guitar on) Mary Beats Jane - Locust (a really cool album that I got from Dan during the recording of "Command Of The New Rock")

Jesper: Deep Purple - Machine Head The Jam - Setting Sons or Sound Affects Jethro Tull - Benefit The Clash - London Calling Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Peter: "Stonerrock" is a musical term a lot of people really dislike, what's your take on sometimes being called a stonerrock band?

Jesper: It might make it easier for the listener/reviewer/buyer to find other music they might also like when it's all sorted under a common genre name. But I think that a lot of the stuff that's called "stonerrock" don't sound alike at all, the influences and styles couldn't be much more different at times. The "stonerrock" genre have been a great help to us (so far), with a worldwide community using the internet and mailing lists. It is also a genre where we seem to fit in (or have been accepted). Stonerrock might not be a great name for the genre though.

Dan: There's a positive side to this genre, and that is that you can mix in psychedelia or other stuff from other genres, and that migh be more difficult in other hardrock/metal genres. On the other hand both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin did that, so it isn't something new...

Göran: Like it matters... you gotta call it something whatever it is, it's probably not the "right" name for some. It helped us a lot, especially in the beginning, like finding people, zines and labels that shared our musical point of view. What is "stonerrock" really?... bands that don't have a drumstick in common are bunched together under that epitaph... take it all with a grain of salt.

Mats: I, personally, don't have anything against being sorted into the stonerrock-genre, but at the same time I don't think we're a "traditional" stonerrock-band... so you gotta add a lot of stuff to describe our sound...

Peter: So what do you think about the stonerrock scene, and especially the Swedish scene?

Göran: Yeah, you see... Does Grand Magus, Backdraft and Mammoth Volume belong to that scene. Either way, they're three amazingly cool bands. I mean, the hardrock/metal scene is of good health, right? There's a damn bunch of great bands coming along all the time, a few crap bands as well, but most of the stuff are amazing...

Ulrik: Stonerock, stonerrock... a few bands I like are Backdraft, Mammoth Volume, Big Elf, The Awesome Machine, Gorilla and Half Man, all of `em aren't Swedish, but whatever. The greatest disappointment must be Nebula, every time I've seen `em they have smoked way to much and have been really untight on stage...

Jesper: Mountains high and valleys low...

Peter: Is there gonna be an European tour now then, or? U.S. Tour? Festivals?

Jesper: Yes! The world is ours...

Göran: Lunasound wants us to hit the road, so something will probably happen...

Peter: The floor is yours...

Dan: I would love to have monthly salary...

Göran: Just gotta say that you're doing a great job for the "scene", Peter! Keep up the good work! And to all of out there, check out "Command Of The New Rock", you won't be disapointed.

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